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The Salone dei Cavalli (Room of the Horses) was one of the first rooms to be completed, in 1526. It was used for banquets or dances. Originally, the lower parts of the walls were decorated with worked leather hangings. The upper parts display a fully articulated architectural system - Corinthian pilasters that support a trabeation (an architectural beem), above which runs a continuous frieze of putti and racemes. Illusionistic niches and panels are opened into the walls, and full-sized statues, marble busts of ancient gods, and fictive bronze reliefs of the Labours of Hercules are represented in them. Six fictive windows penetrate the illusionistic architecture, and they look out over panoramic landscapes with life-sized portraits of Federico Gonzaga’s most valuable thoroughbreds.

The execution of the architectural and antiquarian decoration in this room was wholly entrusted to the shop, but the horses, most of which are identified by name, are of exceptional quality, they were likely painted by Giulio himself.

The painting depicts an old philosopher at her desk, with a vanitas skull and an hourglass.

The sculpture was made for the Baptistery of Florence. Its restoration, which was necessary after the flood of 1966, has brought out the original polychrome, accentuating the ascetic physicality of the sculpture.

Vasari wrote about the statue: “a finely executed and impressive work. She is portrayed as wasted away by her fastings and abstinence, and Donatello’s expert knowledge of anatomy is demonstrated by the perfect accuracy of every part of the figure.”

The picture shows the fresco before the restoration completed in 2002.

This drawing represents the artist at the age of 34.

Catalogue number: Bartsch 40.

In this composition Rembrandt follows a painting by his master Pieter Lastman that takes its basic narrative and compositional terms from an engraving by Lucas van Leyden that in turn is based in part on D�rer’s famous engraving Knight, Death and the Devil.

This watercolour depicts a vision of Sir John Soane’s design for the rotunda of the Bank of England as a ruin.

This statuette, belonging to Giambologna’s earliest independent small bronzes, represents a nude woman in the act of stroking herself with a piece of cloth. It was identified with the statuette sent to Maximilian I as a diplomatic gift in 1565.

Catherine de’ Medici designed a mausoleum for her husband, Henry II, herself, and her sons. This was the Chapelle des Valois, a circular building to be added to the end of the north transept at St Denis. In the middle was to stand the tomb of the King and Queen, which was begun in 1560 on Primaticcio’s designs, the sculpture being carried out by Germain Pilon. The tomb was Primaticcio’s solution to the problem tackled by the Giusti and Delorme in the monuments to Louis XII and Francis I. This tomb seems to be conceived more completely in the round due in part to the position for which the tomb of Henry II was destined, that is to say, the centre of a circular chapel, where it would have been seen from every angle.

The Château de Maisons is the most complete work surviving from the hand of Fran�ois Mansart and gives a better idea than any other of his genius as an architect. In 1642 Ren� de Longueil decided to build a new château on his estate and, having called in Mansart, appears to have given him a completely free hand. The main structure seems to have been finished in 1646, but the decoration may have extended over many years.

The plan consists of a free-standing block with a prominent central frontispiece, flanked by two short wings of the same height as the main block which are continued in two projecting blocks of one floor only. Each part of the building is composed of rectangular masses which are clearly defined.

The photo shows the entrance side of the château.

View the ground plan of the Château de Maisons.

The predella (now separated) of the St Peter Martyr Altarpiece depicts the Dead Christ with six saints, five of whom female. It was addressed specifically to the sisters who knelt before it in prayer. The holy women on the predella served as models for the piety of the sisters.

This painting was originally on the high altar of the Badia in Florence. It is characterized by a language completely renewed in the 14th-century direction, which was to be at the basis of subsequent developments in Florentine and Italian painting.

The Greek hero Perseus, traveling home after slaying Medusa, spotted the princess Andromeda chained to a rock. He rescued her from being sacrificed to a sea monster and won her hand in marriage. This painting depicts a version of the ancient myth popularized in sixteenth-century Italy, in which Perseus arrives astride Pegasus, the winged horse born from Medusa’s blood. Small mythological scenes like this made Cesari one of Rome’s most fashionable painters among sophisticated connoisseurs.

Rosalba Carriera was the only Venetian portrait painter apart from Sebastiano Ricci to use pastels. Her work was appreciated beyond the boundaries of Venice, and she received commissions from many European courts.

This half-length portrait of the Second Condesa (Countess) de Castroterreño is a reduced version of Esteve’s full-length portrait in the H.M. Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco.

From its arched form it is assumed that the painting was part of a larger altarpiece.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 21 minutes):

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Missa Brevis (Tu es Petrus)

As early as 1907, the artist had drafted sketches of his studio-to-be in Tarvaspää, Espoo - a hideaway. Construction of Tarvaspää only got to a start in 1911, when the family returned from their African journey. The studio castle was completed in 1913. In its original guise, it had been designed for artistic purposes; it was heated using big hearths in the studio and the gallery. A gallery existed for exhibiting art and throwing parties and social occasions. In the middle tower room, there were items brought from Africa on display.

In 1915, the artist’s family had to leave Tarvaspää and escape the turmoil spread by World War I. They returned in 1926, settled there and the house was renovated for residential life. It was fitted with plumbing and electricity, a modern bathroom and improved heating. The kitchen would replace the etching room.

In 1961, the former home became a museum.